Church karaoke upsets Sloane Square hotel

One of the late Sir John Betjeman’s favourite churches, Holy Trinity in
Chelsea, is having problems with its neighbour, the Sloane Square Hotel.

By Tim Walker, Edited by Richard Eden

7:25PM BST 17 Aug 2008

One parishioner tells me that word has come through from the hotel’s management that they should pipe down a bit on Sundays. “We’ll jolly well sing as loudly as we want,” she harrumphs. “One can’t mutter hymns like Onward Christian Soldiers.”

Love thy neighbour: Holy Trinity church in Chelsea

The hotel’s John Tham says the complaint was actually directed at the workmen who are currently fixing the church’s roof. “They do karaoke-style singing and not very well,” he says. “I have no issue with the parishioners’ singing.”

A confrontation would not be a good idea. The wealthy landowner Earl Cadogan is the church’s patron and owns all the leaseholds in the area. I disclosed in the spring that he had given the nearby Oriel restaurant its marching orders because, having dined there, he didn’t care for the food.